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- AO 106 (SDNY Rev. 01/17) Application for a Search Warrant
- UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
- for the
- Southern District of New York
- In the Matter of the Search of
- (Briefly describe the property to be searched
- or identify the person by name and address)
- Loews Regency Hotel, 540 Park Avenue, Room
- 1628
- 2968
- APPLICATION FOR A SEARCH AND SEIZURE WARRANT
- I, a federal law enforcement officer or an attorney for the government, request a search warrant and state under
- penalty of perjury that I have reason to believe that on the following person or property (identify the person or describe the
- property to be searched and give its location):
- Loews Regency Hotel, 540 Park Avenue, Room 1628, a Suite that Encompasses Rooms 1628, 1629, and 1630 New York, New York 10065
- located
- Southern
- Districto
- person or describe the property to be seized):
- See Attached Affidavit and its Attachment A
- New York
- there is now concealed (identify the
- The basis for the search under Fed. R. Crim. P. 41 (c) is (checkone or more):
- <evidence of a crime;
- €contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed;
- 06roperty designed for use, intended for use, or used in committing a crime;
- a person to be arrested or a person who is unlawfully restrained.
- The search is related to a violation of:
- Code Section(s)
- Offense Description(s)
- 18 usc 371,-1005, 1014, 1343, Conspiracy, false bank entries, false statements to a financial
- 1344; 52 USC 30116 and 30109
- institution, wire fraud, bank fraud, and illegal campaign contributions
- The application is based on these facts:
- See Attached Affidavit and its Attachment A
- Continued on the attached sheet.
- Delayed notice of 30 days (give exact ending date if more than 30 days:
- under 18 U.S.C. 3103a, the basis of which is set forth on the attached sheet.
- ) is requested
- Sworn to before me and signed in my presence.
- Date:
- City and state: New York, NY
- Judge 'S signature
- Print name and tide
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- UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
- SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
- In the Matter of the Application of the United
- States of America for a Search and Seizure
- Warrant for the Premises Known and Described
- as Loews Regency Hotel, 540 Park Avenue,
- Room 1628, a Suite that Encompasses Rooms
- 1628, 1629, and 1630 New York, New York
- 10065, and Any Closed Containers/ltems
- Contained Therein
- Reference No. 2018100127
- SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK) ss.:
- TO BE FILED UNDER SEAL
- Agent Affidavit in Support of
- Application for Search and Seizure
- Warrant
- being dul swo
- Special Federal Bureau of Investi atio
- deposes and says:
- I. Introduction
- A. Affiant
- I am a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"). I have been
- 1.
- a Special Agent with the FBI since 2009. In the course of my experience and training in these
- positions, I have participated in criminal investigations into federal offenses involving a wide array
- of financial crimes, including frauds on financial institutions, as well as into offenses involving
- public corruption. I also have train.ing and experience executing search warrants, including those
- involving electronic evidence.
- 2. On or about April 8, 2018 , the Honorable Henry B. P itman, United States
- Magistrate Judge, issued a search and seizure warrant for the premises known and described as
- Loews Regency Hotel, 540 Park Avenue, Room 1728, New York, New York 10065, and Any
- Closed Containers/ltems Contained Therein. The warrant and my supporting affidavit (the
- "Affidavit") are appended hereto. The Affidavit is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety
- as Exhibit A.
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- 3. On or about April 9, 2018, based upon a conversation with another law enforcement
- agent who spoke to an employee of Loews Regency Hotel, I learned that Michael Cohen is in fact
- staying in Room 1628 (in a suite encompassing rooms 1628, 1629, and 1630) (collectively, "Room
- 1628"), not Room 1728. Accordingly, I respectfully submit the attached amended warrant
- pursuant to Rule 41 ofthe Federal Rules ofCriminal Procedure for the following Subject Premises:
- Loews Regency Hotel, 540 Park Avenue, Room 1628, New York, New York 10065, and Any
- Closed Containers/ltems Contained Therein ("Subject Premises-4"). For the reasons detailed in
- the Affidavit and herein, I believe that there is probable cause to believe that Subject Premises-4
- entries), 1014 (false statements to a financial institution), 1343 (wire fraud), and 1344 (bank fraud)
- (collectively, the "Bmk Fraud Offenses"), 52 U.S.C. and
- (illegal campaign contributions) (the "Campaign Finance Offenses"), and 18 U.S.C. 371
- (conspiracy as it pertains to the other Subject Offenses) (collectively, the "Subject Offenses").
- 4. Based on the foregoing, I respectfully request the court to issue a warrant to seize
- the items and information specified in Attachment A to this affidavit and to the Search and Seizure
- Warrant.
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- 5. In light of the confidential nature of the continuing investigation, I respectfully
- request that this affidavit and all papers submitted herewith be maintained under seal until the
- Court orders otherwise.
- Special Agent
- FBI
- Sworn to before me on
- 9th day of April, 2018
- HON.
- B. PITMAN
- UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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- ATTACHMENT A
- I. Premises to be Searched—Subiect Premises-4
- The premises to be searched ("Subject Premises-4") are described as follows, and include
- electronic devices, and all locked and closed containers found therein:
- Room 1628 (a suite encompassing rooms 1628, 1629, and 1630) (collectively, "Room
- 1628"), located inside the Loews Regency Hotel at 540 Park Avenue, New York, New York
- 10065. The building is a luxury hotel located on Park Avenue and 61st Street. Subject Premises-
- 4 is located on the 16th floor of the hotel.
- II. Items to Be Seized
- A. Evidence, Fruits, and Instrumentalities of the Subject Offenses
- The items to be seized from Subject Premises-4 are evidence, fruits, and instrumentalities
- of violations of 18 U.S.C. 371 (conspiracy, as it pertains to the other Subject Offenses), 1005
- (false bank entries), 1014 (false statements to a financial institution), 1343 (wire fraud), and 1344
- (bank fraud), and 52 U.S.C. and 30109(d)(1)(A)(1) (illegal campaign
- contributions) (the "Subject Offenses"), described as follows:
- a. Evidence relating to Sterling National Bank, Melrose Credit Union, and/or taxi
- medallions, from January 1, 2013 to the present.
- b. Evidence relating to a plan, proposal, or agreement for Michael Cohen and/or
- entities associated with him to transfer anv interest in taxi medallions, and any associated debts or
- md/or entities associated with him.
- liabilities, to others, including to
- c. Evidence relating to a plan, proposal, or agreement to modify loans that Cohen has
- with Sterling and/or Melrose.
- d. Evidence relating to Essential Consultants, LLC, including any documents that
- indicate the nature and purpose of payments made to or from Essential Consultants or the nature
- of any work done by Cohen or any other individuals in connection with Essential Consultants.
- e. Evidence of income to Michael D. Cohen & Associates, including any documents
- that indicate the nature and purpose ofpayments made to or from Michael D. Cohen & Associates,
- or evidence of the purpose of accounts opened in the name of Michael D. Cohen & Associates.
- f. Evidence relating to Cohen's net worth, available cash and cash equivalents,
- monthly and annual income, income sources, and other assets, whether held personally or through
- entities, including tax returns, personal financial statements, and bank records, from January 1,
- 2013 to the present.
- g. Evidence relating to agreements, loans, and/or financial transactions between
- and/or entities controlled by
- Cohen
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- and any payments by
- l, 2012 to the present.
- to Cohen, from January
- h. Evidence relating to payments to Stephanie Clifford, Karen McDougal, or their
- agents or legal representatives, including any nondisclosure agreements and related documents,
- and any communications related to such agreements.
- i. Evidence of communications involving Michael Cohen, Donald Trump and/or
- agents or associates of the Trump Campaign about Stephanie Clifford or Karen McDougal, or
- payments to Stephanie Clifford or Karen McDougal.
- j. Evidence of communications between Michael Cohen and American Media, Inc.,
- David Pecker, and/or Dylan Howard about Donald Trump, the Trump Campaign, Stephanie
- Clifford, and/or Karen McDougal.
- k. Evidence relating to Cohen's role in the Trump Campaign, and coordination or
- l. Evidence ofcommunicationswith Donald Trump and/or agents or associates ofthe
- Trump Campaign about the Access Hollywood tape and other potential sources of negative
- publicity involving Trump's relationship in the run up to the election.
- m. Evidence relating to any reimbursement or other promises made to Cohen for
- payment to Clifford or others in connection with the election.
- n. Evidence relating to Cohen's knowledge of the campaign finance laws, campaign
- contribution reporting requirements, and campaign contribution limits.
- o. Communications with others, including Jeffrey Getzel and/or other accountants,
- relating to Cohen's bank accounts, taxes, debts, and/or finances, from January 1, 2013 to the
- present.
- p. Communications, records, documents, and other files reflecting false
- representations to a financial institution related to the intended purpose of an account or loan at
- that financial institution; the nature of any business or entity associated with an account at a
- financial institution; the source of funds flowing into an account; or the purpose or nature of any
- financial transactions involving that financial institution, from January 1, 2013 to the present.
- q. Evidence ofCohen's intent as it relates to the Subject Offenses under investigation.
- B. Search and Seizure of Electronically Stored Information
- The items to be seized from Subject Premises-4 also include any computer devices and
- storage media that may contain any electronically stored information falling within the categories
- set forth in Section II.A of this Attachment above, including, but not limited to, a MacBook Pro,
- any other desktop and laptop computers, any Apple iPhone or other cellphone or smafiphone
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- belonging to Michael Cohen or in his possession, an Apple iPad Mini, portable hard drives, disk
- drives, thumb drives, and personal digital assistants. In lieu of seizing any such computer devices
- or storage media, this warrant also authorizes the copying of such devices or media for later review.
- The items to be seized from Subject Premises-4 also include:
- 1. Any items or records needed to access the data stored on any seized or copied
- computer devices or storage media, including but not limited to any physical keys, encryption
- devices, or records of login credentials, passwords, private encryption keys, or similar information.
- 2. Any items or records that may facilitate a forensic examination of the computer
- devices or storage media, including any hardware or software manuals or other information
- concerning the configuration of the seized or copied computer devices or storage media.
- 3. Any evidence concerning the identities or locations ofthose persons with access to,
- control over, or ownership ofthe seized or copied computer devices or storage media.
- C. Review ofES1
- Following seizure of any computer devices and storage media and/or the creation of
- forensic image copies, law enforcement personnel (which may include, in addition to law
- enforcement officers and agents, attorneys for the government, attorney support staff, agency
- personnel assisting the government in this investigation, and outside technical experts under
- government control) are authorized to review the ESI contained therein for information responsive
- to the warrant.
- In conducting this review, law enforcement personnel may use various techniques to locate
- information responsive to the warrant, including, for example:
- • surveying various file "directories" and the individual files they contain (analogous to
- looking at the outside of a file cabinet for the markings it contains and opening a drawer
- believed to contain pertinent files);
- • opening or cursorily reading the first few "pages" of such files in order to determine
- their precise contents;
- o scanning storage areas to discover and possibly recover recently deleted files or
- deliberately hidden files;
- perfonning key word searches through all electronic storage areas to determine whether
- occurrences of language contained in such storage areas exist that are intimately related
- to the subject matter of the investigation; and
- reviewing metadata, system information, configuration files, registry data, and any
- other information reflecting how, when, and by whom the computer was used.
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- Law enforcement personnel will make reasonable efforts to search only for files,
- documents, or other electronically stored information within the categories identified in Sections
- II.A and II.B of this Attachment. However, law enforcement personnel are authorized to conduct
- a complete review of all the ESI from seized devices or storage media if necessary to evaluate its
- contents and to locate all data responsive to the warrant.
- Additionally, review of the items described in this Attachment shall be conducted pursuant to
- established procedures designed to collect evidence in a manner reasonably designed to protect
- any attorney-client or other applicable privilege. When appropriate, the procedures shall include
- use of a designated "filter team," separate and apart from the investigative team, in order to
- address potential privileges.
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- UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
- SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
- In the Matter of the Application of the United
- States of America for a Search and Seizure
- Warrant for the Premises Known and Described
- as (1) 502 Park
- York, New York 10022, (2) Michael Cohen's
- Office at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 23rd Floor, New -
- York, New York 10112, (3) Safe Deposit Box #
- —Located at the TD Bank Branch at 500 Park
- Avenue, New York, New York 10019, and (4) -
- Loews Regency Hotel, 540 Park Avenue, Room .
- 1728, New York, New York 10065, and Any
- Closed Containers/ltems Contained Therein, and
- the Electronic Devices Known and Described as
- d (2) an Apple iPhone with Phone
- Number .
- Reference No. 2018R00127
- SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK) ss.:
- TO BE FILED UNDER SEAL
- Agent Affidavit in Support of
- Application for Search and Seizure
- Warrant
- Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation, being duly sworn,
- deposes and says:
- I. Introduction
- A. Affiant
- I am a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"). I have been
- 1.
- a Special Agent with the FBI since 2009. In the course of my experience and training in these
- positions, I have participated in criminal investigations into federal offenses involving a wide array
- of financial crimes, including frauds on financial institutions, as well as into offenses involving
- public corruption. I also have training and experience executing search warrants, including those
- involving electronic evidence.
- I make this Affidavit in support of an application pursuant to Rule 41 of the Federal
- 2.
- Rules of Criminal Procedure for a wan-ant to search the premises specified below (the "Subject
- 2
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- Premises") and the electronic devices specified below (the "Subject Devices") for, and to seize,
- the items and infonnation described in Attachments A, B, C, D, E and F. This affidavit is based
- upon my personal knowledge; my review ofdocuments and other evidence; my conversations with
- other law enforcement personnel; and my training, experience and advice received concerning the
- use of electronic devices in criminal activity and the forensic analysis of electronically stored
- information ("ESI"). Because this affidavit is being submitted for the limited purpose of
- establishing probable cause, it does not include all the facts that I have learned during the course
- of my investigation. Where the contents of documents and the actions, statements, and
- onversationsofothers
- otherwise indicated.
- B. The Subject Premises and Subject Devices
- Subject Premises-I, Subject Premises-2, Subject Premises-3 and Subject Premises-
- 3.
- 4 (collectively, the "Subject Premises") are particularly described as:
- a
- located inside the building at 502
- a. Subject Premises-I is Apartment
- Park Avenue, New York, New York 10022. The building located at 502 Park Avenue is a 32-
- loor of the building.
- floor brick residential building. Subject Premises-I is located on the
- Based on my review of New York City property records, I have learned that Michael Cohen and
- Laura Cohen own Subject Premises-1.1 Additionally, as described below, Subject Premises-I is
- Cohen's full-time residence.
- Subject Premises-2 is an office located on the 23rd floor of the building at
- b.
- 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York 10112. The building located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza
- I As noted infra, I have learned that on or about October 28, 2015, Cohen transfen•ed Subject
- Premises-I into a frust.
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- is a 66-floor offlce building that spans the entire block between Sixth Avenue and Rockefeller
- Plaza. Subject Premises-2 is located on the 23rd floor of the building inside of the offices of the
- law firm Squire Patton Boggs. The office is assigned to Michael Cohen. As described below,
- Michael Cohen works and conducts meetings at Subject Premises-2.
- Subject Premises-3 is a safety deposit box located inside the TD Bank
- c.
- branch location at 500 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10019. Based on my review ofrecords
- maintained by TD Bank, I have learned that the safety deposit box is approximately five inches by
- Ehe safety deposit box is in the name of Michael
- ten inches in size, and is marked as box
- Cohen and-Eauræeohen.
- Subject Premises-4 is Room 1728 located inside the Loews Regency Hotel
- d.
- at 540 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10065. The building is a luxury hotel located on Park
- Avenue and 61st Street. Subject Premises-4 is located on the 17th floor of the hotel. Based on my
- review of emails obtained pursuant to search warrants described below, I have learned that on or
- about January 5, 2018, Cohen received an email from an employee of Loews Regency, which
- included a price quote for a long-term stay suite based on a three-month stay from January 8 to
- April 8, 2018.2 On or about January 29, 2018, Cohen sent an email to a Loews Regency employee,
- stating, in pertinent part: "I just spoke to my wife and she has scheduled the move for Thursday.
- Please mark down that we will be taking possession on Thursday, February 1st." Based on my
- review of cell phone location data, I have learned that, over the past 24 hours, two cellular phones
- used by Cohen have been located in the vicinity of Subject Premises-4. In particular, on or about
- 2 Although the quoted price contemplated a three-month stay from January 8 to April 8, it appears
- that Cohen did not move in until February 1, and as of today, April 8, cellphone location
- information demonstrates that Cohen's cellular phones are in still in the vicinity of Subject
- Premises-4.
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- April 8, 2018, law enforcement agents using a "triggerfish" device identified Room 1728 as the
- room within the hotel in which the Subject Devices are most likely present.3
- e.
- Premises-4.
- Therefore, I believe that Cohen is temporarily residing in Subject
- Subject Device-I and Subject Device-2 (collectively, the "Subject Devices") are
- 4.
- particularly described as:
- a. Subject Device-I is an Apple iPhone serviced by AT&Twith the telephone number
- Based on my review of records maintained by AT&T, I have learned that Subject
- to-Michael-Cohen. Based-ön-my-review-ofcellphonelocation-infonnation
- maintained by AT&T, I have learned that Subject Device-I is presently located in the Southern
- District of New York.
- b. Subject Device-2 is an Apple iPhone serviced by AT&Twith the telephone number
- Based on my review ofrecords maintained by AT&T, I have leamed that Subject
- Device-2 is subscribed to Michael Cohen. Based on my review of cellphone location information
- maintained by AT&T, I have learned that Subject Device-2 is presently located in the Southern
- District of New York.
- c. Based on my training, experience, and research, and from consulting the
- manufacturer's and service providers' advertisements and product technical specifications
- available online, I know that the Subject Devices have capabilities that allow them to, among other
- things: make and receive telephone calls; save and store contact information; send and receive
- 3 Based on my conversations with these agents, I understand that it is also possible that the Subject
- Devices are one floor below, in Room 1628. However, as noted, I understand that Cohen received
- a price quote for a long-term stay suite and is residing there with his family. Based on my
- conversations with FBI agents conducting surveillance, I understand that Room 1728 appears to
- be a suite, whereas Room 1628 appears to be a standard room.
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- emails and text messages; download and run mobile telephone applications, including encrypted
- call and messaging application such as 1%atsApp, Signal, and Dust; take, send, and receive
- pictures and videos; save and store notes and passwords; and store documents.
- C. The Subject Offenses
- For the reasons detailed below, I believe that there is probable cause to believe that
- 5.
- the Subject Premises and Subject Devices contain evidence, fruits, and instrumentalities of
- violations of 18 U.S.C. 1005 (false bank entries), 1014 (false statements to a financial
- institution), 1343 (wire fraud), and 1344 (bank fraud) (collectively, the "Bank Fraud Offenses"),
- "Campaign Finance Offenses"), and 18 U.S.C. 371 (conspiracy as it pertains to the other
- Subject Offenses) (collectively, the "Subject Offenses").
- D. Prior Applications
- 6. The FBI and the United States Attorney's Office for the Southem District of New
- York ("USAO") have been investigating several courses of criminal conduct by Michael Cohen.
- Cohen is an attorney who currently holds himselfout as the personal attorney for President Donald
- Trump, and who previously served for over a decade as an executive in the Trump Organization,
- an international conglomerate with real estate and other holdings.
- 7. In connection with an investigation then being conducted by the Office of the
- Special Counsel ("SCO"), the FBI sought and obtained from the Honorable Beryl A. Howell, Chief
- United States District Judge for the District of Columbia, three search warrants for emails and
- other content information associated with two email accounts used by Cohen, and one search
- warrant for stored content associated with an iCloud account used by Cohen. Specifically:
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- a. On or about July 1 8, 2017, the FBI sought and obtained a search warrant for
- gmail.com (the "Cohen Gmail Account") sent or received
- emails in the account
- between January 1, 2016 and July 18, 2017 (the "First Cohen Gmail Warrant').
- b. On or about August 8, 2017, the FBI sought and obtained a search warrant
- (the
- for content stored in the iCloud account associated with Apple ID
- "Cohen iCloud Account" and the "Cohen iCloud Warrant").
- On or about November 13, 2017, the FBI sought and obtained a search
- C.
- warrant for emails in the Cohen Gmail Account sent or received between June I, 2015 and
- November-13, .
- d. On or about November 13, 2017, the FBI sought and obtained a search
- warrant for emails in the account
- "the "Cohen N'DCPC Account") sent or
- received between the opening of the Cohen MDCPC Account4 and November 13, 2017 (the "First
- Cohen YDCPC Warrant").
- 8. The SCO has since referred celtain aspects of its investigation into Cohen to the
- USAO, which is working with the FBI's New York Field Office. As part of that referral, on or
- about February 8, 2018, the SCO provided the USAO with all non-privileged emails and other
- content information obtained pursuant to the First Cohen Gmail Warrant, Second Cohen Gmail
- Warrant, and Cohen WIDCPC Warrant. On or about March 7, 2018, the SCO provided the USAO
- 4 Based on my review of this wan-ant and the affidavit in suppol-t of it, I know that the warrant did
- not specify a time period, but the affidavit indicated that, pursuant to court order, the service
- provider had provided non-content information for the Cohen NIDCPC Account that indicated that
- the account contained emails from the approximate period of March 2017 through the date of the
- warrant.
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- with all non-privileged content obtained pursuant to the Cohen iCloud Warrant.s A filter team
- working with the SCO had previously reviewed the content produced pursuant to these warrants
- for privilege.
- On or about February 28, 2018, the USAO sought and obtained search warrants for
- 9.
- emails in the Cohen Gmail Account and the Cohen MDCPC Account, among other accounts, sent
- or received between November 14, 2017 and February 28, 2018 (the "Third Cohen Gmail Warrant"
- and the "Second Cohen MDCPC Warrant"). The content produced pursuant to these warrants is
- 6
- subject to an ongoing review for privilege by an SDNY filter team.
- 10.
- "Cohen Email Warrants."
- 11. On or about April 7, 2018, the USAO and FBI sought and obtained a warrant for
- prospective and historical cellphone location information for Subject Device-I and Subject
- Device-2. On or about April 8, 2018, the USAO and FBI sought and obtained authority to employ
- an electronic technique, commonly known as a 'triggerfish," to determine the location of Subject
- Device-I and Subject Device-2.
- II. Probable Cause
- A. Overview
- 12. The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District ofNewYork and FBI
- are investigating, among other things, schemes by Target Subject Michael Cohen (a) to defraud
- multiple banks from in or about 2016 up to and including the present, and (b) to make an illegal
- 5 The SCO had previously provided a subset of this non-privileged content on or about February
- 2, 2018.
- 6 On or about February 28, 2018 and April 7, 2018, the USAO and FBI sought and obtained Rule
- 41 search warrants authorizing the search of emails and content obtained pursuant to previously
- issued warrants for additional subject offenses.
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- campaign contribution in October 2016 to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. As noted,
- Cohen is an attorney who currently holds himselfout as the personal attorney for President Donald
- Trump, and who previously served for over a decade as an executive in the Trump Organization,
- an international conglomerate with real estate and other holdings.
- 13. The investigation has revealed that Cohen has made affirmative misrepresentations
- in and omitted material information from financial statements and other disclosures that Cohen
- provided to multiple banks in connection with a transaction intended to relieve Cohen of
- approximately $22 million in debt he owed on taxi medallion loans from the banks. As set forth
- ill-detail-below, in these-financial statements-and-in-his-oral-and-othevwritten-statementstothese—
- banks, Cohen appears to have (i) intentionally misrepresented his ability to pay cash by failing to
- disclose cash he began receiving in 2017 from new consulting work; (ii) significantly understated
- his total holdings of cash and cash equivalents; (iii) failed to disclose tens of thousands of dollars
- he received in monthly interest income, and (iv) failed to inform the banks from which he was
- seeking debt relief that he had agreed to make a $3.8 million cash payment to a third party,—
- in connection with
- acquisition of the taxi medallions securing Cohen's
- debt. By making these misrepresentations and material omissions, Cohen avoided making
- monthly payments on his loans, and attempted to fraudulently induce the banks to relieve him of
- certain repayment obligations and personal guarantees that Cohen and his wife had signed.
- 14. Additionally, the investigation has revealed that shortly before the 2016
- presidential election, Cohen made a payment of $130,000 from a limited liability corporation
- ("LLC") to Stephanie Clifford, an individual who is alleged to have had an extramarital affair with
- then-candidate Trump. This payment was made to Clifford in exchange for an agreement not to
- make any public disclosures about her alleged affair with Trump. As set forth below, there is
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- probable cause to believe that Cohen made this payment to Clifford for the purpose of influencing
- the presidential election, and therefore that the payment was an excessive in-kind contribution to
- the Trump campaign.
- 15. Based on my review of emails obtained from the Cohen Email Warrants,
- information obtained pursuant to the iCloud Warrant, and documents produced pursuant to
- subpoenas, as well as my review of public sources, I have learned that Cohen has used the Subject
- Premises to (a) receive documents related to the transaction intended to relieve Cohen of his taxi
- medallion debt, (b) receive documents and/or conduct meetings related to his consulting work, (c)
- receive documents-and/or conductmeetings-relating to
- noted above and as detailed further herein, he has concealed from the banks in connection with the
- refinancing of his taxi medallion debt, (d) receive and send documents relating to his payment to
- Clifford, and (e) house and operate electronic devices that were utilized in connection with, among
- other things, the taxi medallion transaction, Cohen's consulting work, and his payment to Clifford.
- Specifically, as described below, Subject Premises-I likely contains evidence concerning Cohen's
- taxi medallion loans, his negotiations with banks, his personal finances, his consulting work, his
- tax returns, and his payment to Clifford, as well as electronic devices containing such evidence,
- all of which constitute or contain evidence of the Subject Offenses. Additionally, as described
- below, Subject Premises-2 likely contains evidence relating to Cohen's consulting work, his
- finances, and his payment to Clifford, as well as electronic devices containing such evidence.
- Subject Premises-3, as described below, likely contains evidence relating to Cohen's assets and
- finances, including assets that may not have been disclosed to banks in connection with the
- refinancing of Cohen's taxi medallion debt or documents relating to such assets, and documents
- or evidence related to Cohen's payment to Clifford. Subject Premises-4 likely contains electronic
- 10
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- devices, including Subject Device-I and Subject Device-2, which themselves contain evidence of
- the Subject Offenses, including concerning Cohen's taxi medallion loans, his negotiations with
- banks, his personal finances, his consulting work, his tax returns, and his payment to Clifford.
- Accordingly, and as set forth in more detail below, there is probable cause to believe that the
- Subject Premises and Subject Devices will include evidence of the Subject Offenses.
- 7
- B. Probable Cause Regarding Subjects' Commission of the Subject Offenses
- The Bank Fraud Scheme
- (i) Cohen 's Statements to Sterling National Bank
- 16 As-set-forth-in-detaiLbelow, LLCs controlled by him and
- his wife, Laura Cohen, entered into a series of loans from Sterling National Bank ("Sterling") and
- the Melrose Credit Union ("Melrose"), secured by taxi medallions, for approximately $20 million.
- Though entered into by LLCs, the loans were also secured by personal guarantees in the names of
- both Cohen and his wife. Over time, as the taxi industry weakened and the medallions lost value,
- Cohen sought to renegotiate the terms of those loans and/or relieve himself from their obligations,
- including the personal guarantees. As part of that effort, Cohen made a series of representations
- to Sterling and Melrose about his net worth, assets, available cash and income, among other things.
- Specifically, based on my review of records maintained by Sterling and Melrose, and public
- sources concerning the taxi industry and the value of taxi medallions, as well as my participation
- in interviews with a Sterling executive vice-president (the "Sterling Employee-I") and two other
- 7 In the following recitation of probable cause, I frequently refer to phone calls or text messages
- involving Cohen. The text messages described herein as sent or received by Cohen were all sent
- or received from the telephone numbers associated with Subject Device-I or Subject Device-2.
- The vast majority of the phone calls described herein made or received by Cohen were made or
- received by the telephone numbers associated with Subject Device-I or Subject Device-2, although
- in ceftain limited instances Cohen used a landline or other phone.
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- Sterling employees ("Sterling Employee-2" and "Sterling Employee-3"), I have learned, among
- other things, the following:
- a. Taxi medallions are small metal plaques affixed to taxis. Without a medallion, it
- is illegal to operate ataxi in cities with medallion systems, such as New York City. Cohen and his
- wife own multiple LLCs that collectively own 32 taxi medallions (each LLC owns two
- medallions).g Cohen's purchase of these New York taxi medallions was originally financed by
- loans from Capital One bank, for which the medallions served as collateral. Cohen was not a taxi
- operator, and leased his medallions to a third party. That third party made monthly payments to
- Cohen, make-his-monthly loan payments-to Capital
- One.
- b. In early 2014, Cohen became a customer of Sterling when he sought to refinance a
- mortgage on a rental property that he owned. In or around April 2014, Cohen raised with Sterling
- the prospect ofrefinancing his taxi medallion loans, which were then at Capital One. By in or about
- September 2014, Cohen began negotiating a lending transaction with Sterling that would allow
- Cohen to pay off his loans at Capital One and borrow more money from the then-increase in value
- of the medallions. According to Sterling Employee-I, in 2014, prior to the recent upheaval in the
- taxi industry—as a result of the emergence of ride-sharing services, such as Uber—taxi medallion
- loans were viewed by banks and investors as safe, shon term credits, as the market value of taxi
- medallions was consistently rising. Consequently, taxi medallion loans—like the loans held by
- Cohen—were frequently refinanced at increasing amounts as the value of the medallions rose.
- According to Sterling Employee-I, borrowers typically cashed out the increase in the loan amount
- 8 One of these companies, Mad Dog Cab Corp., was jointly owned by Sondra Cohen, who I
- believe is Cohen's mother.
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- I
- and used the additional fixnds for other purposes. Cohen appears to have followed this approach in
- 2014, when he agreed to refinance his medallion loans for approximately $22 million, which—
- according to letters from Capital One in Sterling's files—was greater than his previous debt at
- Capital One Bank ($21 million, of which $14.6 million was a line ofcredit to Cohen). This allowed
- Cohen to cash out the proceeds from the transaction.
- c. Based on my review of records maintained by Sterling, I have learned that on or
- about December 8, 2014, each ofCohen's sixteen taxi medallion LLCs entered into loan agreements
- and promissory notes with Sterling for the principal sum of $1,375,000, with repayment due on
- sole shareholder of the LLC. The address listed for each of the LLCs was the address for Subject
- Premises-I. The loans were also each secured by a security agreement, dated the same day, making
- the medallions collateral for the notes. To give Sterling additional security, Michael and Laura
- Cohen signed personal guarantees and confessions of judgment, giving Sterling the right to pursue
- collection against the Cohens' personal assets were their corporations to default under the loan
- agreements. The personal guaranty agreements stated that the LLCs had offices at the address for
- Subject Premises-I, and contained a notice provision that stated that any notices required by the
- agreements should be mailed to Subject Premises-I. In total, Sterling agreed to lend approximately
- $22 million to the Cohens' companies.
- d. Pursuant to participation agreements, Sterling transferred 45 percent of Cohen's
- taxi medallion debt to Melrose.9
- 9 Melrose, which had a business principally focused on taxi medallion loans, is now in
- conservatorship by the National Credit Union Administration ("NCUA").
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- e. In evaluating Cohen's requested refinancing of the taxi medallions, Sterling (and
- Melrose, consistent with its participation in the deal) conducted due diligence. At Sterling's
- request, Cohen provided Sterling with a statement of financial condition, dated August 1, 2014
- (the "August 2014 Financial Statement"), which indicated that Cohen had $100,740,000 in total
- assets, $23,550,000 in total liabilities, and a net worth of $77,190,000.10 From my review of a
- Sterling credit memorandum, dated September 29, 2014, I know that Sterling viewed the
- transaction favorably because, accounting for loan payments, cash flows from the medallions were
- projected to be positive, the value ofthe collateral (as estimated by Sterling) exceeded $42 million,
- and-the-net-worth agreements==was
- over $77 million. An internal Sterling credit and risk rating analysis report, dated October 20,
- 2014, recommended approval of the loans for substantially the same reasons.
- f. Based on my review of records maintained by Sterling and public sources, I have
- learned that over time, the collateral backing Cohen's loans (taxi medallions) lessened in value due
- to the rise in ride-sharing companies. Additionally, Cohen began falling behind on loan payments
- to Sterling and Melrose. I know from records maintained by Sterling and an interview with Sterling
- Employee-2 that, beginning in or around September 2015, Cohen told Sterling, in sum and
- substance, that the individual leasing Cohen's medallions had fallen behind in making payments to
- Cohen, and that as a result, the monthly cash flow from his taxi medallions had been reduced,
- leaving him with a shortfall of approximately $16,000 each month. For instance, I have reviewed
- an email from Sterling Employee-2, dated September 9, 2015, summarizing a call with Cohen—
- which according to the email and toll records for Cohen's cellphone occun•ed on September 8,
- 10 Cohen subsequently provided Sterling with a revised statement of financial condition, also
- dated August 1, 2014, which repolted assets of $99,420,000, total liabilities of $23,550,000, and a
- net worth of $75,870,000.
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- 2015—during which Cohen told Sterling Employee-2, in sum and substance, about his cash flow
- problems and a monthly shortfall of approximately $16,000. In that same email, Sterling
- Employee-2 commented that despite Cohen's statements, his personal financial information
- "indicate[d] a strong ability to make up the difference in payments." Cohen, however, according
- to Sterling Employee-2, puslled the bank for a reduction in Cohen's monthly payments.
- g. From my review of records maintained by Sterling and my participation in an
- interview with Sterling Employee-2, I have learned that Cohen and Sterling Employee-2 spoke
- again on September 28, 2015, and that during the call Cohen stated, in sum and substance, that the
- individual-to whom-Cohen-leases-the-medallions-had-agaimreduced-monthlypayments to-Cohen
- know from my review of records maintained by Sterling that between in or about September 2015
- and November 2015, Sterling raised the possibility—both internally and with Cohen—of Cohen
- posting his real estate holdings, personal residence, or some other collateral as additional security
- for the banks.ll According to these records, however, Cohen resisted these requests. From my
- review of loan documents and records maintained by Sterling, I know that in or about November
- 2015, as a result of Cohen's representation that he was not earning sufficient returns on his
- medallions to cover monthly interest payments, Sterling and Melrose agreed to amend their loans
- with Cohen by, among other things, reducing the interest rate Cohen paid to Melrose and extending
- the loan maturity date to December 8, 2017.
- h. I know from interviews with Sterling Employee-I and Sterling Employee-2, as well
- as emails I have reviewed, that in or about October 2016, Cohen told Sterling Employee-I that
- Cohen had a potential buyer of his taxi medallions, named
- who would agree to
- 11 Based on my review of property records, I know that on or about October 28, 2015, around
- the time period when Sterling raised the possibility of Cohen posting his personal residence—
- Subject Premises-I—as collateral, Cohen transferred Subject Premises-I into a trust.
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- assume Cohen's debt with Sterling and Melrose. Based on my review of records maintained by
- Sterling, as well as the interviews with Sterling Employee-I and Sterling Employee-2 referenced
- above, I know that by or before October 2016, Cohen had entered into negotiations to sell his sixteen
- taxi medallion entities to
- for the balance of the loans, which at the timewas $21,376,000. I know from my review ofrecords
- maintained by Sterling, and my participation in an interview with Sterling Employee-2, that as a
- condition of the transfer of the medallion loans—and because Sterling was unfamiliar with
- -Sterling requested that Cohen make a substantial principal payment on the loan, of
- —approximately-one million-dollars-prior-to the transfer. Cohewrejected this-request-initially—But—
- on or about January 31 , 2017, Cohen told Sterling Employee-I, in sum and substance, that he would
- make a one million dollar principal reduction payment in order to move forward with the medallion
- deed' in an email sent by Cohen to Sterling Employee-2 on or
- transfer deal with
- about February 22, 2017, Cohen confirmed that he "agreed to pay down 1 million from the loan
- amount."
- i. Pursuant to the participation agreements between Sterling and Melrose, Sterling
- was required to secure Melrose's agreement to participate in the transfer of the taxi medallion debt
- from Cohen to
- On or about April 17, 2017, Sterling sent a memorandum to
- Melrose summarizing the terms of the proposed transaction, and noting the requirement that
- Melrose agree to the terms. On or about May 2, 2017, Sterling Employee-I told
- that Melrose had agreed to the deal in principle, and that Sterling would be sending the parties a
- term sheet shortly.
- j. In order for the banks to conduct diligence and evaluate the proposed transaction
- fully, they requested financial information from the parties. On or about June 7, 2017, Sterling
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- Employee-I emailed Cohen to request an "updated personal financial statement," completed
- jointly with Cohen's wife, and Cohen's most recent federal income tax return. On or about June
- 8, 2017, Cohen emailed Sterling Employee-I a Sterling personal financial statement form that had
- been filled out by hand, which referenced a statement of financial condition, dated May 1, 2017
- (the "May 2017 Financial Statement") that was also attached. The May 2017 Financial Statement
- included a cover letter from Cohen's accountant, Jeffrey Getzel, stating, in sum and substance, that
- the information in the statement came from Cohen and that Getzel had not confirmed its accuracy
- or completeness. The May 2017 Financial Statement stated that Cohen had total assets of
- Financial Statement indicated that Cohen's assets were comprised of $1,250,000 in cash,
- $26,155,000 in closely held companies (such as the taxi medallion entities and his real estate
- holdings), $3,200,000 in real estate investments, and his $11,000,000 personal residence.12
- k. Based on my review of reports of law enforcement interviews of Sterling
- Employee-I, I have learned that Sterling Employee-I reviewed the May 2017 Financial Statement
- with Cohen to, among other things, verify its accuracy, and Sterling Employee-I asked Cohen about
- specific line items on the financial statement, including the cash amount, value of medallions, and
- total liabilities. Cohen stated to Sterling Etnployee-l, in sum and substance, that the May 2017
- Financial Statement was accurate.
- l. On or about August 16, 2017, Sterling Employee-I emailed Cohen and
- ttaching a non-binding term sheet memorializing the potential transaction between
- 12 Based on my review of Cohen's financial statements, I know that the precipitous decline in
- assets from his 2014 financial statement to his 2017 financial statements can be explained
- primarily by reported depreciation in the value of Cohen's real estate assets and medallion
- investments.
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- Sterling, Melrose, Cohen, an
- The term sheet included a cover letter addressed
- to Cohen at Subject Premises-I. The palties negotiated the provisions of the term sheet and, on or
- about September 5, 2017, Sterling Employee-I sent
- executed term sheet. According to the tenn sheet,
- from Sterling and Melrose, to be secured by the medallions that
- Cohen.
- and Cohen a copy of the
- would borrow $20,000,000
- was to acquire from
- m. As part of the agreement, according to the term sheet, $1,265,913 in principal (which
- is what would remain after the $20,000,000 payment on the outstanding loan balance) would be
- repaid-by-Cohen-and-twtwo-bank*-with Cohempaying fiftypercent and the-banks-dividing th
- remaining half of the balance. Based on my review ofan internal Sterling credit memorandum,
- dated October 4, 2017, the parties reached a preliminary agreement that Cohen would pay $632,956
- of the remaining $1,265,912 principal loan balance, and Sterling and Melrose would absorb
- $357,167 and $275,789, respectively, in the form of charge-offs. According to Sterling Employee-
- 1, Sterling was willing to divide the repayment of the outstanding principal balance—despite its
- prior insistence that Cohen make a principal pay-down of at least one million dollars—because
- Cohen represented on a telephone call with Sterling Employee-I, in sum and substance, that he had
- insufficient liquidity to pay the full outstanding principal balance. As part ofthe agreement, Sterling
- and Melrose also agreed to relieve Cohen and his wife of the personal guarantees that they made
- on behalf of the LLCs. Thus, after completing the
- transaction, Cohen would no longer
- have had any outstanding obligations to Sterling or Melrose.
- n. Based on my review of emails sent by Sterling employees, I have learned that
- because the transaction between the patties was subject to full credit underwriting by Sterling and
- Melrose (as well as Melrose's regulators at NCUA), in August and September 2017, Sterling
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- required and requested additional financial statements and tax returns for Cohen and
- for its credit underwriting process. In response to Sterling's requests, on or about September 25,
- 2017, Cohen emailed Sterling Employee-2 a copy of his 2016 tax return. The tax return listed
- Cohen's mailing address as Subject Premises-I. Additionally, on or about October 5, 2017, Cohen
- re-sent Sterling Employee-2 a copy of his May 2017 Financial Statement. A day later, on October
- 6, 2017, Cohen emailed Sterling Employee-2 a statement of financial condition, dated September
- 30, 2017 (the "September 2017 Financial Statement").
- o. Like the May 2017 Financial Statement, the September 2017 Financial Statement
- include&æeoverletterfrom and substancehth
- the information in the statement came from Cohen, and that Getzel had not confirmed its accuracy
- or completeness. The September 2017 Financial Statement stated that Cohen had total assets of
- $33,430,000, total liabilities of $45,630,000, and a negative net worth of $12,200,000.13 Notably,
- unlike Cohen's May 2017 Financial Statement, the September 2017 Financial Statement
- represented to Sterling that Cohen had a negative net worth. The September 2017 Financial
- Statement indicated that Cohen's assets were comprised of in cash, $17,630,000 in
- closely held companies (including the taxi medallion entities and his real estate holdings), 14
- $3,200,000 in real estate investments, and his $11,000,000 personal residence (which, for the first
- 13 Based on my review of Cohen's financial statements, I know that this further decline in
- assets can be explained primarily by reported depreciation in the value of Cohen's real estate assets
- and medallion investments.
- 14 Notably, the September 2017 Financial Statement valued each of Cohen's thirty-two New
- York taxi medallions at approximately $180,187.50, which was considerably less than the
- term sheet.
- $650,000 valuation ascribed to each medallion in the Cohen-
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- time, he indicated was held by The September 2017 Financial Statement included assets
- and liabilities not held in Cohen's name, such as various entities associated with his taxi medallions
- and some of his real estate investment entities.
- p. From myparticipation in an interview with Sterling Employee-2, and my review of
- records maintained by Sterling, I have also learned that around the time Cohen provided Sterling
- with these financial statements—i.e., in or around September 2017—Cohen stopped paying
- monthly loan payments on his taxi medallion loans altogether. According to Sterling Employee-
- 2, Cohen informed Sterling, in sum and substance, that he had insufficient funds to pay the monthly
- principal-and-interest payments-on-his-medallion-loans.-By-in-0E about-Decembep201-7wSter1ing
- and Melrose had not been paid approximately $276,937.92 in monthly principal and interest
- payments on the medallion loans. Based on Cohen's financial condition as conveyed in the
- September 2017 Financial Statement, and his delinquency in making payments to Sterling, among
- other things, the bank's credit underwriting committee determined (and memorialized in a
- December 2017 memorandum) that the Coher
- ransaction was favorable for the bank
- — that is, that
- would be a better borrower than Cohen.
- q. On or about December 26, 2017, Sterling sent Cohen a demand letter requesting
- the immediate receipt of past-due loan payments. The demand letter was addressed to Cohen at
- Subject Premises-I. On December 29, 2017, Sterling sent Cohen a letter stating that he was in
- default under the loans between Sterling and Cohen's medallion corporations. The notice of
- default was addressed to Cohen at Subject Premises-I. Cohen did not make an immediate payment
- on the loans, but instead sent an e-mail to Sterling Employee-I on or about January 24, 2018,
- 15 Based on my review of property records maintained by the City of New York, and my
- participation in an interview with Getzel, I know that in 2015, Cohen transferred his residence to
- a trust. He did not disclose that transaction to Getzel or Sterling until in or about September 2017.
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- stating that during the closing of the Cohen-
- ransaction, Cohen would ' 'bring all
- payments up to date as well as deposit the payoff differential." Cohen also requested by email on
- January 24, 2018, that at the closing of the Cohen,
- transaction, Sterling provide a letter
- stating that all of Cohen's debts have been satisfied and that Cohen's personal guarantees of the
- medallion loans had been terminated.
- r. The Cohen
- 29, 2018,
- transaction, however, did not close. On or about January
- attomey emailed attorneys for Sterling and stated that "at this time
- there is no deal with Michael Cohen. Some of the numbers have changed and we are not prepared
- to go-forward. 'E
- s. Based on my participation in the interview with Sterling Employee-2 and my
- review of records maintained by Sterling, I know that after the Cohen,
- deal fell apart,
- Sterling assigned Cohen's loans to Sterling Employee-3, who specializes in collecting on
- defaulting loans. From my participation in an interview with Sterling Employee-3, my review of
- telephone call notes taken by Sterling Employee-3, and my review of telephone records, I know
- that Sterling Employee-3 spoke several times to Cohen on or about January 30, 2018 about paying
- down and/or restructuring Cohen's outstanding taxi medallion loans. On the calls, which in total
- lasted more than an hour, Cohen stated in sum and substance that he did not have more than
- $1,250,000 to pay toward the medallion loans. On the call, in the course of reviewing the failed
- Cohen-
- transaction, Sterling Employee-3 questioned Cohen about the price
- was to have paid for each medallion, and whether there was a side agreement between
- Cohen denied that there was any side agreement with—
- Cohen and
- t. On or about January 31, 2018, Cohen emailed Sterling Employee-3 and proposed
- paying $500,000 to bring the loans current and $750,000 to bring the principal balance to
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- $20,500,000. Cohen also suggested revised monthly interest payment amounts. The signature
- block on the email indicated that Cohen's address was the address for Subject Premises-2. On or
- about January 31, 2018, Sterling Employee-3 responded to Cohen and stated, in sum and
- substance, that Cohen would need to pay the entirety of the overdue payments and pay down the
- principal balance of the loan to $20,000,000 (in total, a payment of approximately $1,750,000),
- and would need to make larger monthly interest payments.
- u. On or about February 1, 2018, Cohen emailed Sterling Employee-3 and proposed
- "[p]ayment of $1.250m which ALL can be used to pay down principal, if [Sterling] will waive
- —past-due-amounts," original.)
- Cohen also stated, in sum and substance, that he had insuffcient financial resources to post
- additional collateral or pre-fund monthly payments. The signature block on the email indicated
- that Cohen's address was the address for Subject Premises-2. Based on my participation in an
- interview with Sterling Employee-3, I have learned that since January 30, 2018, Sterling has
- continued to renegotiate the medallion loans with Cohen based on Cohen's representations about
- his current financial position. In particular, according to Sterling Employee-3, Cohen and Sterling
- have an agreement in principal to restructure Cohen's loans based in part of Cohen's agreement to
- make a principal payment of approximately $750,000, to make a payment of $500,000 to become
- cun•ent on interest payments, and to post $192,000 in cash collateral for his future monthly
- payments on the loan. Cohen also agreed to pledge an interest he had in a property. Sterling
- Employee-3 has stated that had Cohen indicated he had more than $1,250,000 available to him,
- Sterling would have, among other things, negotiated for a larger reduction to the principal amount
- of the loan.
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- (ii) Cohen Made Material Misrepresentations About His Finances to Banks
- Cohen Concealed from Sterling and Melrose Cash Derived from Consulting Work
- 17. As set forth in detail below, despite multiple written and oral representations by
- Cohen to Sterling (and, by extension, Melrose16) that he had insufficient funds to pay down the
- principal balance of the medallion loans, make monthly interest payments, or pay past-due
- amounts, it appears that between 2016 and the present, Cohen opened and maintained bank
- accounts at First Republic Bank ("First Republic"), and then received millions of dollars in
- consulting payments in these accounts, which he did not disclose to Sterling. Cohen set up these
- imyhichlmenadedisclosures to Sterling
- about his personal finances (including his assets and liabilities) and his ability to make payments
- on the medallion loans. In these disclosures to Sterling—and despite being asked about these bank
- accounts by his accountant—Cohen misled the bank by claiming he had insufflcient liquidity to
- satisfr his obligations or meet the bank's demands, while withholding information about these
- ongoing revenue streams and liquid financial assets at First Republic.
- Specifically, based on my review of documents and bank records produced
- 18.
- pursuant to a subpoena by First Republic, and my participation in and review of reports of
- interviews with a First Republic sales manager ("First Republic Employee-I ") and a First Republic
- senior managing director ("First Republic Employee-2"), I have learned, among other things, the
- following:
- 16 Based on my review of a report of an interview conducted with an employee of Melrose, I
- have learned that, pursuant to the participation agreement between Sterling and Melrose, Cohen's
- financial statements and other records in Sterling's possession were forwarded to Melrose so that
- Melrose could make a detennination as to whether to approve of the Cohen-
- transaction. Based on my review of reports of interviews with Melrose employees, also know
- that Cohen called employees at Melrose regarding the Cohen—
- ransaction.
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- a. Cohen and his wife have been customers of First Republic since approximately
- June 2011. Cohen controls several checking and loan accounts at First Republic, some in his own
- name and others in the names of corporate entities. According to First Republic's know-your-
- customer records on Cohen, 17 his primalY physical address is the address for Subject Premises-I.
- b. On or about October 26, 2016, in Manhattan, New York, Cohen opened a new
- checking account at First Republic in the name of Essential Consultants LLC (the "Essential
- Consultants Account"). Cohen was the only authorized signatory on the account. According to
- account opening documents, the primary address for Essential Consultants LLC was the address
- orSubject Premises-I-AVhen-Cohen-opened the-Essential-Consultants-Aceount,-First Republi
- Employee-I conducted an in-person interview of Cohen. In response to a series of know-your-
- customer questions about the purpose of the account—the answers to which First Republic
- Employee-I entered into a form18 Cohen stated, in sum and substance, that he was opening
- Essential Consultants as a real estate consulting company to collect fees for investment consulting
- work, and all of his consulting clients would be domestic individuals based in the United States.
- Cohen also stated, in sum and substance, that his purpose in setting up the account was to keep the
- revenue from his consulting business—which he said was not his main source ofincome—separate
- from his personal finances. As set forth below, there is probable cause to believe that Cohen's
- statements about the intended purpose of the account and source of funds for the account were
- false. Specifically, as described below, the account was not intended to receive—and does not
- 17 Certain financial institutions are required to conduct such procedures pursuant to the Bank
- Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations. See 31 U.S.C. 5318; 31 C.F.R. 1020.220.
- 1 8 First Republic Employee-I first filled out the form on the day he interviewed Cohen, October
- 26, 2016. On or about December 19, 2016, at the request of bank compliance personnel, First
- Republic Employee-I updated the form to add more detail about Cohen's statements.
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- appear to have received—money in connection with real estate consulting work; in addition, the
- account has received substantial payments from foreign sources.
- c. I know from my review of First Republic bank records that were scheduled by an
- FBI forensic accountant that after Cohen opened the Essential Consultants Account, Cohen
- received payments into that account from foreign businesses and entities that do not reflect the
- stated client profile for the residential and commercial real-estate consulting services. Specifically,
- from my review of the Essential Consultants Account schedule and public sources, I know the
- following:
- i Beginning-on-or-abouLJanuary
- payments of $83,333 into the Essential Consultants Account from an entity called Columbus Nova
- LLC. According to public sources, Columbus Nova is an investment management firm controlled
- by Renova Group, an industrial holding company based in Zurich, Switzerland that is controlled
- by Russian national Viktor Vekselberg. From January 2017 to August 2017, the Essential
- Consultants Account received seven payments totaling $583,332.98 from Columbus Nova LLC.
- ii. Beginning on or about April 5, 2017, the Essential Consultants Account
- began receiving payments from Novaltis Investments, SARL, which I believe to be the in-house
- financial subsidiary of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis International AG ("Novafiis").
- Between April 2017 and February 2018, the Essential Consultants Account received eleven wire
- payments from a Swiss bank account held in the name of Novartis, each in the amount of $99,980,
- for a total of $1,099,780.
- iii. Beginning in or about April 2017, the Essential Consultants Account started
- receiving wire payments from a bank account associated with the telecommunications company
- AT&T Inc. ("AT&T'). Specifically, on or about April 14, 2017, AT&T sent $100,000 to the
- 25
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- Essential Consultants Account and, from in or about June 2017 to in or about January 2018, the
- Essential Consultants Account received ten $50,000 payments from AT&T. In total, AT&T sent
- $600,000 to the Essential Consultants Account.
- iv. On or about May 10, 2017, June 9, 2017, July 10, 2017, and November 27,
- 2017, the Essential Consultants Account received four deposits in the amount $150,000 (totaling
- $600,000) from a bank account in South Korea. The account holder from which the money was
- sent is Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. ("KAI"). KAI is a South Korea-based company that
- produces and sells fixed-wing aircraft, helicopter aircraft, and satellites to the United States
- v. On or about May 22, 2017, the Essential Consultants Account received a
- $150,000 deposit from an account at Kazkommertsbank, a Kazakhstani bank. The listed account
- holder at Kazkommertsbank was a second Kazakhstani bank named BTA Bank, AO. A message
- accompanying the wire payment indicated that the payment was a "monthly consulting fee as per
- Inv BTA-IOI DD May 10, 2017 consulting agreement wm DD 08 05 2017 CNTR W/'NDD
- 08/05/2017."
- vi. In total, from on or about January 31, 2017 toon or about February 1, 2018,
- the Essential Consultants Account received approximately $3,033,112.98 in transfers and checks
- from the aforementioned entities. As of on or about January 10, 2018, the balance in the Essential
- Consultants Account was $1,369,474.23. Cohen's withdrawals from the Essential Consultants
- account reveal that it was used for largely personal purposes, including to pay, among other things,
- American Express bills and fees from "the Core Club," a private social club in New York.
- d. On or about April 4, 2017, Cohen opened another new checking account at First
- Republic, this one in the name of Michael D. Cohen & Associates, P.C. (the "MDC&A Account").
- 26
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- Cohen was the only authorized signatory on the account. According to account opening
- documents, the primary address for MDC&A Account was the address for Subject Premises-I.
- Among other things, the MDC&A Account received ten wire transfers and one check from an
- account in the name of Squire Patton Boggs, a law firm. As noted above, Subject Premises-2 is
- located inside the New York office of Squire Patton Boggs. In total, from on or about April 5,
- 2017, to on or about January 2, 2018, the MDC&A Account received $426,097.70 in deposits, and
- the balance in the account as of January 2, 2018, was $344,541.35. As discussed below, Cohen
- never disclosed any of the balance in the Essential Consultants or lvDC&A accounts to Sterling
- ansactiorvowthe•ubsequent--lo
- refinancing negotiations, including in his May 2017 Financial Statement and September 2017
- Financial Statement.
- 19. Based on my review of emails that were seized pursuant to the Cohen Email
- Warrants, and my review of reports of interviews with employees of AT&T and Novartis, it
- appears that the aforementioned payments to the Essential Consultants Account and IvfDC&A
- Account were for political consulting work, including consulting for international clients on issues
- pending before the Trump administration. Specifically, from my review ofemails from the Cohen
- Gmail Account, the Cohen N4DCPC Account, and public sources, I have learned the following:
- a. On or about April 28, 2017, Cohen sent an email to an individual whom I believe
- is affiliated with KAI. In the email, Cohen attached a "Consulting Agreement" between KAI and
- Essential Consultants dated as of about May 1, 2017. The agreement indicates that Essential
- Consultants had the address of Subject Premises-2. The document indicates that Essential
- Consultants would render "consulting and advisoryr services, as requested" by KAI, and that KAI
- would pay Essential Consultants "a consulting fee of One Million Two Hundred Thousand
- 27
- 2017.08.02
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- ($1,200,000.00) US Dollars," disbursed through eight $150,000 installments between May 2017
- and December 2017. I have also reviewed invoices in amounts of $150,000 that Cohen emailed
- to an individual whom I believe is affiliated with KAT. At the top of the invoices the address listed
- for Essential Consultants is the address for Subject Premises-2.
- b. On or about May 8, 2017, Cohen sent an email to an individual whom I believe is
- affiliated with BTA Bank. The signature block on Cohen's email listed "Essential Consultants
- LLC" and "Michael D. Cohen & Associates, PC" and provided the address for Subject Premises-
- 2. In the email, Cohen attached a document purporting to be a "Consulting Agreement" between
- BTABankand-EssentiaLConsultants dated asofaboutMay
- Essential Consultants had the address of Subject Premises-2. The document indicates that
- Essential Consultants would render "consulting and advisory services" to BTA Bank, and that
- BTA Bank would pay Essential Consultants "a consulting fee of One Million Eight Hundred
- Thousand ($1,800,000.00) US Dollars," disbursed through monthly payments of $150,000. On or
- about May 10, 2017, Cohen sent an email to an employee ofBTA Bank, and attached to the email
- an invoice to BTA Bank in the name ofEssential Consultants, with the address of Subject Premises-
- 2. The invoice contemplated a $150,000 payment to Essential Consultants for a "monthly
- consulting fee."
- c. On or about January 23, 2017, Cohen appears to have entered into a consulting
- agreement with AT&T, which contemplates that Essential Consultants "shall render consulting and
- advisory services to [AT&T]" and that AT&T would "advise [Essential Consultants] ofthose issues
- and matters with respect to which AT&T Services desires [Essential Consultants] 's assistance and
- advice." The agreement indicates that Essential Consultants had the address of Subject Premises-
- I. The contract calls for AT&T 'to pay the Consultant for his services ... a consulting fee of Fifty
- 28
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- Thousand ($50,000) Dollars ... per month." Based on my review of reports of interviews with
- AT&T employees, I have learned that AT&T retained Cohen to consult on political issues,
- including net neutrality, the merger between AT&T and Time Warner, and tax reform.
- d. On or about March 1, 2017, Cohen appears to have entered into a contract between
- Novartis and Essential Consultants, which provides that Essential Consultants will "provide
- consulting and advisory services to Novartis on matters that relate to the repeal and replacement of
- the Affordable Care Act in the US and any other issues mutually agreeable to [Essential
- Consultants] and Novartis." The conü•act provides for a "consulting fee of One Million Two
- dollars,"
- installments over the course of a year. Based on my review of reports of interviews with Novartis
- employees, I have learned that Novartis retained Cohen to provide political consulting services and
- to gain access to relevant policymakers in the Trump Administration.
- e. In or about February 2017, Cohen began negotiating the terms of a "strategic
- alliance" with Squire Patton Boggs. On or about March 4, 2017, Squire Patton Boggs emailed
- Cohen a "strategic alliance agreement." Under the terms of the agreement, Cohen agreed to
- generate business for the law film, and Squire Patton Boggs agreed to pay to Cohen "an annual
- strategic alliance fee of $500,000, payable in twelve (12) equal monthly installments." Squire
- Patton Boggs also agreed to provide Cohen with "dedicated and segregated office space in [Squire
- Patton Boggs's] New York and Washington D.C. offces, which office space shall be physically
- separate from [Squire Patton Boggs's] offices and have locked doors and its own locked file
- cabinets." On or about April 3, 2017, Squire Patton Boggs announced on its website that is had
- formed a "strategic alliance" with Michael D. Cohen & Associates and would "jointly represent
- clients."
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- 20. Despite the significant amount of money that Cohen received into the Essential
- Consultants Account and the MDC&A Account, and the cash balance in both accounts, Cohen did
- not disclose that information to Sterling or Melrose. Specifically, based on my review ofdocuments
- provided by Getzel (as noted above, Cohen's accountant at the time), my participation in an
- interview with Getzel, and my review of notes and
- have leamed the following:
- 1
- a. In or about May 2017, Getzel met with Cohen at Subject Premises-2. At the
- meeting, Cohen told Getzel, in sum and substance, that he had set up a law practice called Michael
- and aconsulting-compamy-calle&EssentialConsultants LLCÆohen_
- told Getzel, in sum and substance, that he expected to earn $75,000 per month in connection with
- his law practice, and that he expected gross revenues for the consulting business to be between five
- and six million dollars annually.
- b. In or about October 2017, if not earlier, Getzel was preparing a personal financial
- statement for Cohen. On or about October 6, 2017, Getzel sent an email to Cohen in which Getzel
- wrote that "[alttached is a draft of the new PFS as of September 30, 2017" and attached a draft of
- the September 2017 Financial Statement. The draft statement reflected that as of September 30,
- 2017, Cohen had only $1,250,000 in cash, total assets ofapproximately $33,430,000 (comprised of
- taxi medallion interests, real estate interests, and his personal residence and property), and liabilities
- ofapproximately $45,630,000, leaving him purportedly over $12 million in debt. In the same email,
- Gebel questioned Cohen, in sum and substance, about the fact that the financial statement did not
- list any value associated with either the Essential Consultants Account or the MDC&A Account:
- "[w]e did not add any value for you[rl two operating entities — Michael D. Cohen & Associates
- 30
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- POC [sic] and Essential Consultants LLC. Please advise whether or not these should be disclosed
- and what value."
- c. On or about October 6, 2017, Cohen called Getzel by telephone—which is reflected
- on toll records for Cohen's cellphone—and told Getzel, in sum and substance, not to include
- Essential Consultants or MDC&A in the September 2017 Financial Statement because they had no
- value. On or about October 6, 2017, following the call with Getzel, Cohen, using the Cohen
- Account, responded to Getzel's email with the answer "[l]ooks good to me." Cohen never directed
- Getzel to make any changes to his cash position as listed in the September 2017 Financial
- - Statement—ln-a-l etter-d addressed-to-Getzel,-Cohen-
- the attached statement of financial condition and find it to be correct and consistent with the
- representations that I made to your film. The attached is an accurate reflection of my assets,
- liabilities and net worth (deficit) as of September 30, 2017." Attached to that letter was the
- September 2017 Financial Statement, which, as noted above, was then transmitted to Sterling in
- connection with the proposed taxi medallion transaction between Sterling, Cohen, and
- 21. Based on my review of a report of an interview with Sterling Employee-I, I have
- learned that Cohen did not disclose his income stream from Essential Consultants to Sterling
- Employee-I or, to his knowledge, anyone else at Sterling. According to Sterling Employee-I,
- knowledge of such an income stream would have affected Sterling's demands during the
- negotiations, particularly with respect to the amount of a principal paydown of Cohen's debt.
- Cohen Understated His Available Cash
- 22. In addition to withholding the existence of his Essential Consultants income from
- Sterling and Melrose, it appears that Cohen also substantially understated his available cash and
- cash equivalents in his financial disclosures. Specifically, I know from my review of the September
- 31
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- 2017 Financial Statement that Cohen provided to Sterling that Cohen represented that he had
- $1,250,000 in cash as of September 30, 2017. I also know that on or about January 30, 2018, in a
- telephone call with Sterling Employee-3, and on February 1, 2018, in an email to Sterling
- Employee-3, Cohen represented that he did not have more than $1,250,000 in cash. But, from my
- review of a summary ofbank records that were scheduled by forensic accountants, I have learned
- that Cohen had approximately $5,000,000 in cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, 2017.
- Additionally, as of February 1, 2018, Cohen had approximately $6,000,000 in cash and cash
- equivalents. Specifically, from my review ofthe account schedule and bank records, I have learned
- the following.
- a. Cohen has three checking and/or savings accounts at Capital One Bank, one of
- which is in his wife's name. As of September 30, 2017, Cohen had $1,105,680.35 in his savings
- account, and $1,262,982.29 in total in the three accounts at Capital One Bank. As of February 1,
- 2018, Cohen had a total of $1,389,245.78 in these accounts.
- b. Cohen has three accounts at Morgan Stanley in his name. As of September 30,
- 2017, the combined total in cash and cash equivalents in those tlu•ee accounts was $1,270,600.41.
- As of February I, 2018, Cohen had $1,284.996.13 in these accounts.
- c. As ofSeptember 30, 2017, Cohen had $260,689.18 inan accountat SignatureBank.
- As of February 1, 2018, Cohen had $261,517.55 in this account.
- d. In addition to the Essential Consultants Account and MDC&A Account at First
- Republic, Cohen also had two joint checking accounts with Laura Cohen at First Republic. In total,
- as of September 30, 2017, Cohen had at least $1,876,209.27 in total in his four accounts at First
- Republic. As of February 1, 2018, Cohen had $3,332,992.95 in these accounts.
- 32
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- e. Cohen has an account at Bethpage Credit Union with $25,931.39 in it as of
- September 30, 2017.
- f. As of September 30, 2017, Cohen had $17,542.54 in accounts at Sterling.
- g. Cohen has two accounts at TD Bank—one in his name and one held jointly with his
- wife. Cohen also has a safety deposit box at TD Bank—Subject Premises-3. The safety deposit
- box was opened on December 13, 2017 in the names of Michael and Laura Cohen.
- h. In total, as of September 30, 2017, Cohen had at least $4,713,935.08 in his accounts
- at Capital One Bank, City National Bank, Signature Bank, Sterling Bank, Bethpage Credit Union,
- accounts at Capital One Bank, City National Bank, Signature Bank, First Republic, and Morgan
- Stanley. 19
- 23. Accordingly, based on the foregoing, it appears that Cohen's written and oral
- representations to Sterling and Melrose that he did not have more than $ were false, and
- that Cohen withheld information regarding approximately $5 million in fiands from Sterling and
- Melrose in order to secure favorable terms in his renegotiation of his medallion loan. Based on
- my participation in an interview with Sterling Employee-2, and Iny review ofreports of interviews
- with Sterling Employee-I and two Melrose employees, it is my understanding that that Sterling
- and Melrose would view Cohen's understating of his assets as material to its decision whether to
- renegotiate Cohen's medallion loans and on what terms, or to its decision whether approve of the
- transfer of those loans to
- 19 Based on my review of the account schedules described above, I know that, as of the date of this
- affidavit, the account balances for TD Bank have not yet been included in the schedule for either
- date and the account balances for Sterling National Bank and Bethpage Credit Union have not yet
- been included in the schedule for February 1, 2018. Thus, to the extent that these accounts have
- positive balances, Cohen' s total balances in fact were even higher on these dates.
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- Cohen Has Unreported Interest Income
- It appears that Cohen also hid from Sterling interest income that he was receiving in
- connection with a six million dollar loan he made to another individual. Specifically, I know from
- my review of the May 2017 Financial Statement and September 2017 Financial Statement that
- Cohen provided to Sterling that Cohen did not disclose that he had made a note receivable in the
- amount of approximately $6 million, or that he was earning approximately $60,000 per month in
- interest income in connection with that loan. But, from my review ofa summary of bank records
- that were reviewed by another law enforcement agent, my review of property records and
- documents-obtained-pursuantto-thewCohen-EmaiLWarrants, an&myparticipation_in_amintervie
- with Getzel, I have learned the following:
- a. Based on my review of propelty records, I have learned that on or about March 12,
- appr0Ximate1y
- 2012, Cohen agreed to lend
- $2,000,000.20 It appears that the promissory note was unsecured by any real property. On or about
- April 28, 2014, Cohen and
- amended the promissory note, and restructured the loan to
- increase the principal amount to approximately $5,000,000. Under the terms of the amended
- promissory note, the loan was secured
- or about April 8, 2015, Cohen at
- amount to $6,000,000.21
- apartment in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. On
- restated the promissory note to increase the principal
- b. Based on my review ofa copy ofthe restated note, which was obtained pursuant to
- the Cohen Email Warrants, I have learned that under the terms of the amended and restated
- 20 | learned from Getzel thal
- 21 The note states that the loan is to
- jointly and severally. For ease of reference, I refer simply to
- 34
- 2017.08.02
- husband and wife,
- herein.
- ****** Result for Image/Page 43 ******
- promissory note, Cohen's loan to—
- is an interest-only loan, and that the principal balance
- of the loan bears interest at an annual rate of 12.25 percent. I also know that the amended and
- restated promissory note includes a schedule of payments that requirc
- to pay Cohen
- approximately $61,250 per month beginning in April 2015 and ending in April 2019. The note also
- requires tha
- repay the principal balance of $6,000,000 on April 28, 2019.
- c. Based on my review of bank records, I have learned that, consistent with the terms
- of the amended and restated promissory note,
- has made monthly payments of
- approximately $61,250 since April 2015. Specifically, based on my review of records maintained
- from an entity called
- totaling $61,250 per month, which he
- deposited into his personal bank account at Capital One Bank.22 It appears from my review ofbank
- records and public sources tha
- is the owner of
- From my review ofrecords maintained by Capital One Bank, I have also learned that since October
- totaling
- 2015, Cohen has received checks from an entity called
- $61,250 per month, which he deposited into his personal bank account at Capital One Bank. It
- is also the owner of
- appears from my review of bank records and public sources that
- In total, it appears that Cohen receives approximately $735,000 per year
- in interest payments from
- d. Based on my review of Cohen's May 2017 and September 2017 Financial
- Statements, my review 6fhis 2015 and 2016 tax returns obtained via subpoena and from the Cohen
- Email Warrants, and my participation in an interview with Getzel, I have learned that Cohen did
- 22 In April 2015, Cohen received a pro-rated payment. For all months thereafter, the total payment
- equaled $61,250,
- iften made the payment in multiple checks.
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- not disclose this interest income he was receiving from
- JO Sterling or Melrose, or list it
- on his tax returns. I have also learned that while this interest income is taxable, Cohen did not tell
- Getzel—his accountant—about the income, and Getzel only learned about the income because he
- began doing
- :axes in 2017.23
- 25. Accordingly, based on the foregoing, it appears that Cohen's representations to
- Sterling and Melrose that he did not have more than $1,250,000 were false, and that Cohen
- withheld information relating to the interest income he is receiving from
- order to
- secure favorable terms in his renegotiation of his medallion loan.
- Cohen-Had-a-Side-Agreement-With
- 26. As set forth in detail below, during the course of Cohen's negotiations to sell his
- interest in taxi medallions and the associated debt to
- Cohen not only
- misrepresented his financial position to Sterling, but also failed to disclose a side agreement he
- had negotiated with
- : it appears that
- lgreed to pay an above-market price
- for Cohen's taxi cab medallions, and in exchange, Cohen agreed to pay
- approximately
- $3.8 million in cash. Specifically, from my review ofdocuments produced pursuant to a subpoena
- by Sterling, and my participation in interviews with Sterling Employee-I, Sterling Employee-2,
- and Sterling Employee-3, I have learned, among other things, the following:
- a. On or about September 5, 2017, an executed term sheet was circulated by Sterling
- Employee-I to Cohen and
- The term sheet listed Cohen's address as the address for
- Subject Premises-I. According to the term sheet,
- from Sterling and Melrose, to be secured by the medallions that
- would borrow
- vas to acquire from
- 23 Accordingly, this interest income—which should have been reported as such on Cohen's tax
- returns—is included herein in calculations of Cohen's true cash position.
- 36
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- Cohen. At a price of $20 million for thirty-two taxi medallions, the proposed transaction valued
- each medallion as wotth $625,000. The term sheet also contemplated a $1,265,913 pay-down of
- the principal balance ofthe loan. The term sheet made no mention of a $3.8 million payment from
- Cohen to
- or any other form of payment or financial transaction between the parties.
- b. Additionally, an internal Sterling credit memorandum, dated October 4, 2017,
- describing the terms of the Cohen4
- transaction and the new loan to
- id
- —including a $3.8 million payment. The
- not mention any payments from Cohen to
- memorandum also noted that the "loan amount of $20MM indicates a $625M purchase price per
- Indeed,
- according to an internal Sterling memorandum dated February 5, 2018, in the month of January
- 2018, taxi medallions sold for amounts ranging from $120,000 to $372,000. According to Sterling
- Employee-I and Sterling Employee-2, they were never told that
- agreed to a purchase
- price of $625,000 in exchange for a lump sum payment from Cohen, or that Cohen would make
- any payment to
- c. On or about January 30, 2018, Sterling Employee-3 asked Cohen whether Cohen
- pay
- sum of money for entering into the
- had a side agreement wit}
- medallion transaction. Sterling Employee-3 asked Cohen about such an an-angement because,
- paying for each medallion
- according to Sterling Employee-3, the price that
- appeared to be well above the market price. Cohen stated, in sum and substance, that he had no
- side agreement—and never had a side agreement—with
- 27. While Cohen anc
- did not disclose any payment from Cohen to
- n communications with Sterling, it appears that such a payment was contemplated.
- Indeed, based on my review ofrecords maintained by Getzel, and my participation in an interview
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- with Getzel, I have learned the following, in substance and in part, regarding the proposed side
- payment from Cohen to
- a. On or about September 19, 2017, Getzel prepared a memorandum for Cohen
- entitled, "Sale of NYC Medallion Entities and Debt Assumption" (the "Getzel Memorandum").
- The Getzel Memorandum summarized the proposed transaction between Cohen and
- in part, as follows: 'Michael and Laura Cohen will transfer ownership oftheir 13 NYC medallion
- entities to a Buyer who will assume their bank indebtedness, upon the [Cohens'] paying down the
- debt portfolio of the 13 entities by $500,000 and a cash payment to the Buyer of
- the
- payment of $3,800,000 to
- to p,
- but Getzel did not know where Cohen was going to obtain
- As noted above, Cohen had more than $5,000,000 in cash and
- cash equivalents as of September 2017, but had only disclosed in his September 2017 Financial
- Statement that he had $1.25 million in cash.
- 28. Based on my review ofrecords maintained by Sterling (as well as Melrose, the bank
- with the participating interest in the loans) and reports of interviews of representatives of Sterling
- (and Melrose), I have seen no evidence that Sterling, Melrose, or any other financial institution
- involved in the potential deal with Cohen and
- side payment from Cohen to
- vas aware of the planned $3.8 million
- The Illegal Campaign Contribution Scheme
- 29. The USAO and FBI are also investigating a criminal violation ofcampaign finance
- laws by Michael Cohen. As set forth below, there is probable cause to believe that Cohen made
- 24 The reference to thirteen medallions appears to be an error by Getzel. Cohen and his wife
- together owned sixteen corporations, which in turn owned 32 taxi medallions.
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- an excessive in-kind contribution to the presidential election campaign of then-candidate Donald
- Trump in the form ofa $130,000 payment to Stephanie Clifford, an individual who was rumored
- to have had an extramarital affair with Trump, in exchange for her agreement not to disclose that
- alleged affair. As set forth below, there is probable cause to believe that this payment was intended
- to keep Clifford from making public statements about the rumored affair on the eve of the 2016
- presidential election, and thus constitutes a campaign contribution in excess of the applicable limit.
- 30. From my review of public sources, I have learned the following:
- a. In or around October 2011, there were rumors published on the gossip websites
- TheDirty.com that-Trump had-had-an extramarital-affair-with Clifford"ln-adult-film-actress whos
- screen name is Stormy Daniels, in or around July 2006. In or about October 2011, Life & Style
- Magazine, a tabloid sold in supermarkets, also published an article, based on the report in
- TheDirty.com, alleging an affair had occurred between Trump and Clifford. Both Trump and
- Clifford, through their representatives, issued denials in response to the articles.
- b. Specifically, on or about October 11, 2011, Keith Davidson, who identified himself
- as Clifford's attorney, sent a cease and desist letter to TheDirty.com, demanding that the article
- regarding Trump and Clifford be removed from the website. Additionally, on or about October
- 12, 2011, Cohen, who was then Executive Vice-President and Special Counsel to the Tlump
- Organization, stated to E! News that "[t]he totally untrue and ridiculous story ... emanated from
- a sleazy and disgusting website.... The Trump Organization and Donald J. Trump will be bringing
- a lawsuit ... [and] Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization would like to thank and commend
- Stormy Daniels and her attomeys for their honesty and swift actions."
- 31. On or about June 16, 2015, Trump formally launched his 2016 presidential
- campaign. On or about May 4,-2016, Trump became the presumptive Republican Party nominee
- 39
- 2017.08.02
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- for president, and on July 19, 2016, Trump officially became the nominee. Based on my review
- of public sources, I have learned that while it does not appear that Cohen had an official title as
- part of the Trump campaign, on multiple occasions Cohen made public statements on behalf of
- Trump or his campaign. For instance, on or about August 18, 2016, Cohen appeared on CNN to
- defend Trump's polling numbers.
- 32. On or about October 7, 2016, The Washington Post published online a video and
- accompanying audio in which Trump referred to women in what the article described as "vulgar
- terms" in a 2005 conversation with Billy Bush, who was then the host of Access Hollywood. ume
- foll owing- days on- October 85-2016s-Trump- appeared
- things, "I've said and done things I regret and words released today on this more than a decade old
- video are one of them. Anyone who knows me knows these words don't reflect who I am. I said
- it. I was wrong and I apologize." Based on my review of public sources, I also know that
- representatives of the Trump Campaign stated, in sum and substance, that the Access Hollywood
- comment was an old and isolated incident.
- 33. Based on my review of public sources, including an article published in Slate
- magazine by a reporter who interviewed Clifford, I have leamed that around this same time, in or
- about October 2016, Clifford was in discussions with ABC's Good Morning America show and
- Slate magazine, among other media sources, to provide these media outlets with her statement
- about her alleged relationship with Trump. According to the article in Slate, which the author
- based on conversations with Clifford over the telephone and by text message, Clifford wanted to
- be paid for her story or be paid by Trump not to disclose her accusation. As Cohen summarized
- in a 2018 email obtained pursuant to the Cohen Email Warrants: "In October 2016, I was contacted
- 40
- 2017.08.02
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- by counsel for Ms. Clifford stating that news outlets, including ABC News, were pursuing the 2011
- story of an alleged affair between Mr. Trump and Ms. Clifford."
- 34. From my review of telephone toll records25 and information produced pursuant to
- the iCloud Warrant and Cohen Email Warrants, I have learned that in the days following the Access
- Hollywood video, Cohen exchanged a series of calls, text messages, and emails with Keith
- Davidson, who was then Clifford's attorney, David Pecker and Dylan Howard of American Media,
- Inc. ("AMI"), the publisher of the National Enquirer,26 Trump, and Hope Hicks, who was then
- press secretary for Trump's presidential campaign. Based on the timing of these calls, and the
- content-ortheftext-messages-and-emails,-Lbelieve-thatÄAeast some_of_these_communications_
- concerned the need to prevent Clifford from going public, particularly in the wake of the Access
- Hollywood story. In particular, I have learned the following:
- a. On October 8, 2016, at approximately 7:20 p.m., Cohen received a call from Hicks.
- 27
- Sixteen seconds into the call, Trump joined the call, and the call continued for over four minutes.
- Based on the toll records that the USAO has obtained to date, I believe that this was the first call
- 25 My attribution of certain telephone numbers to certain individuals as described in this
- affidavit is based on my review of the vCard (virtual contact file) and text messages obtained from
- Cohen's telephone pursuant to the iCloud Warrant.
- 26 Pecker is President of AMI and, according to his own statements in public reports, a personal
- friend of Trump. Howard is the chief content officer of AMI, who according to public records
- reports directly to Pecker.
- 27 | believe that Trump joined the call between Cohen and Hicks based on my review of toll
- records. Specifically, I know that a call was initiated between Cohen's telephone number and
- Trump' s telephone number at the same time the records indicate that Cohen was talking to Hicks.
- After the Cohen-Trump call was initiated, it lasted the same period of time as the Cohen-Hicks
- call. Additionally, the toll records indicate a "-1" and then Trump's telephone number, which,
- based on my training and experience, means that the call was either transferred to Trump, or that
- Trump was added to the call as a conference or three-way call participant. In addition, based on
- my conversations with an FBI agent who has interviewed Hicks, I have learned that Hicks stated,
- in substance, that to the best of her recollection, she did not learn about the allegations made by
- Clifford until early November 2016. Hicks was not specifically asked about this three-way call.
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- Cohen had received or made to Hicks in at least multiple weeks, and that Cohen and Trump spoke
- about once a month prior to this date — specifically, prior to this call on October 8, 2016, Cohen
- and Trump had spoken once in May, once in June, once in July, zero times in August, and twice
- in September.
- b. Approximately ten minutes after the call ended, Hicks and Cohen spoke again for
- about two minutes.
- c. At 7:39 p.m., immediately after the second call with Hicks ended, Cohen called
- David Pecker (as noted above, the President of American Media Inc., or Alvll) and they connected
- for
- for more than a minute. Three minutes after ending his call with Pecker, Cohen received a call
- from Dylan Howard (as noted above, the Chief Content Officer of AN'II), and they spoke for
- approximately a minute. According to toll records, it does not appear that Cohen and Howard
- spoke regularly prior to October 8, 2016, as it had been over a month since they had called each
- other.
- d. At 7:56 p.m., approximately eight minutes after his call with Howard ended, Cohen
- called Hicks and they connected for two minutes. At approximately the same time this call ended,
- Cohen received a call from Pecker, and they spoke for about two minutes. At 8:03 p.m., about
- three minutes after ending his call with Pecker, Cohen called Trump, and they spoke for nearly
- eight minutes.
- e. At 8:39 p.m. and 8:57 p.m., Cohen received calls from Howard and spoke to him
- for about four and six minutes, respectively. At 9:13 p.m., about ten minutes after Cohen and
- Howard hung up from the second of these calls, Howard sent Cohen a text message that said:
- "Keith will do it. Let's reconvene tomorrow." Based on my involvement in this investigation, I
- 42
- 2017.08.02
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